ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses how Spanish parliamentary actors contributed to and engaged with the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), the extent to which politicisation and party-political divisions emerged, as well as the appearance of Spanish parliamentary ‘political entrepreneurs’. The Spanish parliamentary engagement in the CoFoE was limited at the national level, even if above average in comparison to other member states. The main national parliamentary body involved in the CoFoE was the Mixed Committee for the European Union (EU) – composed of members of both the Spanish Congreso and Senate – who selected the four representatives for the CoFoE Plenary. The party–political dimension was primarily oriented towards the exclusion of extreme right Vox, a party that challenges further European integration on the basis of protecting ‘national sovereignty’. Spanish parliamentary chambers did not meaningfully engage in inter-parliamentary cooperation at the EU level, mostly reclaiming a bigger role for national parliaments but without much coalition-building with other chambers. As for the public sphere, despite some pro-European civil society activism, only the usual suspects participated, and there was no broader public resonance in the national media. The latter finding is coherent with the overall depoliticised dynamics and philosophy with which the CoFoE was designed.
